2 experimental push-ups on 10lb weights, lifting one weight on each side (I have no idea what these are called, but I saw someone doing them the other day and thought it would be fun to try….. they are hard).

6:40 PM (at the gym):

50 minute RPM class with 4 intervals.

Feeling: Whew! What a workout. When I really get into it, the class flies by and this class guarantees to get my heart pumping.

♦♦♦

Thursday Re-cap

Yesterday’s Figgy pudding VOO was so delicious, I decided to have it again the next morning. This bowl contained:

Figgy Pudding VOO, Take #2:

1/4 c rolled oats

1/2 c soy milk

1/2 melted banana

1 tbsp flaxseed meal

1 tsp chia seeds

2 dried figs, chopped

1 tbsp dried blueberries

1 tsp espresso powder

1 tsp cinnamon

dash of nutmeg

dash of cloves

Morning toppings:

frozen chopped strawberries, thawed

almond butter

shredded coconut

Excuse me while I pause from typing as I remember how incredible this all tasted…

Okay, I’m back.

After a decent workout at the gym, I refueled with a cup of peanut butter chocolate protein powder with water when I got to work. I am starting to like this flavour less now that I barely eat anything that contains artificial sweetener in it. I’m not there yet – I still have a few boxes of cereal that I know are sweetened with sucralose, etc, but I do believe my taste buds are evolving and I can’t appreciate this fake sugar taste anymore. Yay for change!

Ah, German Chocolate Cake Coffee (with soy milk), what would I do without you?

Lunch was another master piece that kept me full for a pretty long time. These salads are *HUGE* and are always so satisfying – and because it’s all fresh veggies, it’s incredibly easy to pack at home. I just throw in some pre-washed spring mix greens, a washed baby cucumber, washed tomatoes, and any other mix-ins that I’m feeling like adding that day. When I get to work, all I do in the way of prep work is cut up my cucumber and tomatoes, add some dressing and shake it all up.

The night before, I also prepared two boiled eggs (one for yesterday, one will be for today). Instead of using mayonnaise which I can’t stand (unless disguised in spicy tuna/salmon rolls), I chopped up the egg, added some chopped baby cucumber, fresh dill, and mixed it up with dijon mustard. I’ve found that dijon mustard can pretty much substitute any salad that I’d normally dress with mayonnaise. I usually make tuna salad with dijon instead of mayo (or mayo “look-alikes”). If you haven’t tried it, I suggest you do!

I added my egg salad on a half piece of Ezekiel 4:9 toasted english muffin smeared with tomato paste. Mmmm.

I was going to make it a sandwich, but a coworker made some chili the night before and brought me some at work. Who was I to say no? I gobbled up my small portion of chili with the other half of the english muffin.

Mid-afternoon snack was a gala apple with almond butter.

Oh, and a piece of swiss milk chocolate from my candy bowl. 😀

After a sweaty, heart-pumping spinning class, I snacked on a fig while I ran some errands before I got home. I *almost* bought a beautiful bag of cherries at the grocery store – until they rang up at $8.06 at the cash. I decided that I could probably live without them….. *tear*

Dinner was interesting!

A few weeks back, I bought a package of SoyKasha tempeh and it’s been sitting in my fridge unopened since because I’ve never cooked it before and I didn’t want to do anything too fussy with it. Why experiment with Tempeh?

According to Henry’s Gourmet Tempeh (the brand I purchased):

an excellent source of protein, contains all the essential amino acids; same quality protein as meat or poultry

excellent source of calcium,

low in saturated fat

high in essential fatty acids & B vitamins

cholesterol free

high in soluble dietary fibre

fermented: fermentation neutralizes the phytate acid present in the soybeans, therefore tempeh does not restrict the body’s absorption of minerals

easy to digest because the fermentation process breaks down the complex proteins found in soybeans, making tempeh more easily digested than non-fermented soy foods or whole soybeans

After a few attempts at looking up “easy” receipes online, I decided none of them were easy enough and I didn’t want to have to go out and pick up any extra ingredients to follow a recipe. So, I just decided to wing it using some ingredients I already hand on hand. Ladies and gents, I present to you, easy-peasy Tempeh Tantrum-free Stir Fry.

Tempeh Tantrum-free Stir Fry

Ingredients:

About 1/4 of a tempeh package, chopped into 1/2 inch cubes

1 tsp cornstarch (mixed with water to dissolve it)

2-3 tsp low sodium soy sauce

4-5 drops of Worcestershire sauce

turmeric powder (as desired)

minced garlic

Your favourite stir-fry vegetables. I used:

Sliced mushrooms (I used baby bella)

Sautéed zucchini

Sautéed baby spinach

1-2 tbsp tomato paste

Sriracha sauce (optional)

Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:

Mix all above ingredients together and then use to marinate tempeh cubes (I was impatient so I only did this for about 15 minutes, but I suspect the longer you marinate them, the better!)

In a small frying pan, fry tempeh (reserve the marinade), turning over until each side is lightly toasted. Remove from pan.

In the same pan, add marinade to the pan and cook mushrooms in them for a few minutes until mushrooms are soft. Add vegetables and tomato paste until everything is evenly heated through.

Lay on the Sriracha sauce for good measure. Add tempeh to vegetables, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Enjoy!

Notes: I happened to have pre-cooked vegetables so this took me less than 15 minutes to throw together. However, you could easily use frozen, pre-cooked vegetables and just make sure they’re heated through. You could also cook all vegetables from scratch.

♦♦♦

I had my Tempeh Tantrum-free Stir Fry with some microwaved sweet potato on the side.

For dessert, I had about half a cup of delicious green grapes. Yep, they were calling to me at the grocery store, and were at least somewhat more affordable than the cherries were.

For my first time dealing with Tempeh, I was pretty happy with this dinner. Now I’m curious to know, have you ever cooked tempeh before and what’s your favourite way to prepare it?

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One thought on “Tempeh Tantrum-free Stir Fry”

I have only had tempeh a couple of times at the wonderful Veggie Bar in Melbourne, but I found it tasted too strong and was too textured for my liking, which is a pity as I had read so much about its nutritional merits! What did you think of the flavour?